Disclaimer: Homestuck is copyright of Andrew Hussie
[This one-shot is based on "The Witch's House", the true ending of the game…]
Homestuck: Messiah's Abode
It felt more than an hour since he walked into the Makara Hive and almost pushed his limit solving several puzzles and narrowly escaping death.
Finally reaching Gamzee's room, he entered it…and gasped as the sight of indigo blood staining the floor and swirling in the recuperacoon slime (mostly on the latter) greeted his eyes.
Deciding to ignore it, he moved to the desk situated in the corner and found another of Gamzee's journal entries. Why were they spread out in parts around this Hive, he had no clue. Flipping the journal open, he read it thoroughly.
"My sickness was going to kill me. So…I took his body from him. I lived on in his body. That's fine, right? Because we're 'Moirails'. He gave me his body…because we're motherfucking 'Moirails'. So, today…we should hang out some more.
Right? Karkat?"
CRASH!
The red-blooded Troll jumped at the sound of smashing glass; turned and felt his heartbeat stop dead momentarily. It was at that instant he recognized the sole owner of the Hive.
Gamzee was in a terrible state – indigo blood poured from his eyes and mouth, streaming down his arms and soaking his black shirt, almost camouflaging the Capricorn symbol; his black hair seemed wilder than usual and his horns appeared slightly chipped as though he had been hitting them against walls. As he crawled towards him, Karkat noticed he was legless and leaving behind a fresh trail of indigo blood gushing from a severed waist.
"…gha…ugh…guh…" Gamzee groaned as he continued to inch towards him. Karkat summoned whatever will he had left and bolted at the last second, barely dodging the half-dead Troll's pounce; absconded as fast as he could out of the room and down the hallway.
He rushed down the stairs and almost had another heart attack as black handprints appeared on the walls, but that was nothing compared to the indigo orbs glaring at him each time he momentarily glanced behind.
Unseen forces dropped vases and moved furniture to distract and/or even block his escape; parts of the floor randomly tore into large holes, nearly having him fall into the dark abyss below – but Karkat easily dodged them all, adrenaline coursing through his body as thoughts of escaping were all that was on his think pan right now.
Several twists and turns later, he re-located a cabinet he had found and grabbed a knife that was sitting there – perhaps use it to defend himself. His train of thought was quickly derailed as Gamzee caught up and nearly grabbed his ankle. Reflexes kicked in and he jumped away; reached the front door and let himself out.
Karkat panted hard, savoring the fresh forest scent as a sign of freedom. He half-walked, half-jogged down the path until he came across a letter laying among a small flower bed. It turned out to be the first half of the message that was missing while he retained the second half. Piecing them together, he read the complete letter.
"Dear Karkat,
I'm sorry for yelling at you yesterday. There's an old legend that says an Indigo Blood lives in the forest, and kidnaps other Trolls who get lost there. Your Moirail's house is very near the forest, so…I was worried about you.
Your Moirail's name was Gamzee, right? I don't mind if you go to his Hive, but just stay away from the forest. Hope to see you home soon.
- Kankri"
He silently tucked the letter back in his pocket and moved on, finding the wall of thorns that he couldn't cut through earlier. He then recalled picking up a peculiar little bottle; taking it out, he decided to toss its contents onto them…and watched them wither away upon contact.
'Finally! I could get out of here,' he thought as he walked through the now-revealed path, not caring as rain began to pour heavily and soaked him head-to-toe. He hasn't gone that far when he heard an all-too-familiar noise among the booming thunder...
Squish…squish…squish…squish…
He looked back and sure enough, there was Gamzee still coming after him…although at a slower rate. "Ghg…gha…hh…hh…hh…" he groaned/panted as he inched closer, slightly increasing his speed, "Grh…zh…"
…
…
…
"Whoa, you're stubborn," Karkat commented, walking close and stomping cruelly on Gamzee's head. "How much longer are you going to chase me? You know that body won't last long," he added.
"…gra…uhh…uff…" was all that was heard in reply.
"Hm? Give it back? No way," the Red Blood scoffed, turning his back to him, "This body hurts much less." He then walked back to the Indigo Blood, staring down at him. "You gave it to me in the first place. Why should I have to give it back?" he added as he grinned maliciously, "Right…Karkat?"
Indigo tears welled up within slowly-rotting eyes as the real Karkat held back a sob, knowing he should have learned of his intentions as they traded bodies. "You felt so sorry for me. I couldn't even move from my recuperacoon," the real Gamzee continued, smirking as he walked around freely in Karkat's body, "That's why I used my miracle magic to trade bodies with you."
"Just for a day?" he went on, "…heh. I guess I all up and motherfucking said that." Turning back towards him, he added, "I was surprised you could trap me with my own power…but, to no avail. After all, it's my Hive, yes? It wouldn't be killing me anytime soon. I was guided by all the fucking way. I was ensured to escape."
Kneeling down, he smirked into the eyes of his former body. "…still not dead? Well isn't that a motherfucking miracle." Standing, he felt another reason bubble up. "Ah, could it be…are you that worried about Kankri?" he spoke, "Oh, I know. You and your brother, Karkat. A close family of two."
"Those memories stayed in your body," he explained, "He's a good Troll. Quite the chatterbox, isn't he? And he even sent you that letter. What a good brother."
Turning and walking towards him again, he spoke, "So then, I suppose you're worried about what'll happen when you're gone?" He knelt down and continued, "It'll be motherfucking fine. I'll give him Karkat's share of love. And I'll take his share of love, too. So…"
"Karkat?"
The 'Red Blood' turned and saw none other than his Moirail's older brother, Kankri. "Karkat! Are you safe! Are you hurt anywhere?" the older Troll asked worriedly as he checked on his brother. 'Karkat' nodded and ran to his side, putting on a scared act. "W-What? Why…" Kankri demanded, and then looked ahead and saw a bloody mess that was left of 'Gamzee'.
"Br…bro…th…" he groaned, trying to inch closer despite the pain wrecking through his already-weakened body, "…th…er…"
"S-STAY AWAY, MONSTER!" Kankri yelled, firing two shotgun shells to 'Gamzee's' head; turned to 'Karkat' and led him home, knowing nothing of the earlier events and the exchange made between the two.
As for Gamzee…he blended in quite well as 'Karkat' that nobody noticed it wasn't really his late Moirail on the inside…
[And so, this is my very first Homestuck fanfiction. There's another one planned, but it'll take a while to show up – please be patient.
Thanks~!]
